#“reacts badly” can mean either they cause a bunch of problems for everyone else or they sink further into their own psychological problems

[icequeenbae]

Daddy’s Struggles (m) | BBH

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader

Dad!Baek, domestic au, established relationship (duh), a slice of life, fluff, a lil smutty(!)

Warnings: some friskiness between mom and dad if you know what I mean, mentions of teenagers watching porn (I’m not promoting it, you guys lol), also this gets fluffin’ sweet get a bucket in advance

Word Count: ~2.2k

Summary: Baekhyun overhears your teenage daughter watching porn. You have to handle a small crisis.

Event: the BBH day @supermwritersnet​

© Please do not copy/ post on other platforms without permission.

Author’s Note: This… came out of nowhere:D I blame my dear beta @baekshoney​​ – we'd once discussed the idea of Baek being a teenager’s parent (in relation to a different story). Don’t we all love dilf Baek though? lol Anyways, this is a tiny glimpse into his future as a cute af father and husband <3 Let’s name him puppydad!Baek 😊 I hope this lifts your mood a little on a day like this!

On that note – happy birthday to our genius idol (aka mochi-cheeked hyperactive puppy), I wish that he stays healthy and happy and on the radar throughout the next 2 years (and forever)!! Don’t be too sad, guys, he’s hopefully going to finally lead a somewhat normal life for a bit 💞 Ok, I’ll let you get to it already~

A yawn.

You rubbed your tired eyes and dictated a reminder for tomorrow morning to your AI assistant. It was pretty late and you had your hands full all day with your kids. And while family time was always great, there hadn’t been a spare moment for you to tend to your own business. But two decades of dealing with your hyperactive yet loveable children (and husband) taught you to make the most out of what you got. So you were doing just that, organizing your errands and sorting important emails after everyone had scurried off to their rooms, and your husband — to the shower.

Baekhyun was quite exhausted himself, so you realized he must’ve gotten in the common bathroom by the time you exited the one in your bedroom. He did that sometimes when you locked the door out of habit. Not that he couldn’t come in, it was just… You used to scold him pretty badly for breaking into the bathroom. Picking locks wasn’t something you wanted your juniors to acquire as a habit. They had enough of their daddy’s traits as it was.

The thought made you chuckle. Your eldest son had already outgrown his father by at least five and a half – gotta be precise here! – centimeters (which made daddy very proud, but also a teeny tiny bit jealous). Despite his height, which, you were sure, was going to break the golden 180cm in the next few months, your boy’s build was exactly the same as Baekhyun’s. His shoulders were broad, his hips wide, and his waist was naturally narrow. Legs long and lean, and eyes always mischievous. He was eighteen and already seemed more like Baekhyun’s best friend rather than his child. Being both the hyung and the oppa of the household, he was the most mature out of the bunch, and always a big help to his parents.

Your middle child, your precious daughter, resembled you a lot. Her wavy hair and her big eyes with the longest eyelashes either of you’d ever witnessed. Seriously, that was the first thing Baekhyun’s friends had commented on when they came by to meet your new baby. ‘Is this even normal? Can she see through those? That’s one pretty baby!’ She was even prettier now, at her sweet sixteen, cheeks still a bit chubby, which – just as her button nose – were definitely an homage to her dad. Not to mention her hands that were even more delicate and exquisite than his.

The youngest, your six-year-old son, was a blessing. You weren’t planning to have more children after the first two until you suddenly thought… why not? Cannot say that you weren’t a little bit under the influence at the time. It was one of those rare weekends when your kids had a sleepover at their grandparents’, so you had the whole house to yourself. Deciding to have a domestic date and enjoy shameless daytime drinking, you indulged in a whole glass of wine before both of you were tipsy and giggling, then you added one more to the mix. At that point, all kinds of crazy things were brought up.

‘We should do this more often…’ You informed your partner. ‘This is exciting! We can walk around naked the way we used to before we had teenagers in the house!’

‘I miss our naked Saturdays…’ Baekhyun whined, almost spilling his wine while trying to sip it gracefully. ‘Now I barely even see you naked with your shower locking obsession!’

Pursing your lips, you dismissed his complaint.

‘After that incident… You cannot blame me for my caution.’

The incident was, well, your son needing to use the bathroom while his sister was taking too long and heading to the one in your bedroom. He nearly walked in on… an adult scene.

‘He didn’t even see anything, Y/N-ah,’ your husband grumbled, but you waved him off, downing your drink as if it was a shot of tequila rather than a glass of wine.

‘I don’t see a problem though,’ he blinked at you, not following. ‘We’re alone. Why not… See each other naked again?’

‘Right. We can also- Y/N-ah!’

‘What?’ You eyed his suddenly enthusiastic form with nothing but suspicion.

‘We can create a distraction!’

‘Hm?’

‘A distraction for them. So that they’d be busy with something else while we’re away.’

‘Hmm?’ You still couldn’t locate the source of his excitement.

‘Lemme show you,’ he slurred, tugging on your wrist to get you up and dragging you to the bedroom.

Let’s have another baby – that was his brilliant idea. Had you both not been such poor drinkers, one of you would’ve thought this through.

Nevertheless, you were glad that you didn’t. Because your little angel, who could sometimes be more of a tiny demon, to be frank, was the single sweetest thing to ever exist on planet Earth. He had his entire family wrapped around his little finger, and you – most of all. How could anyone blame you? That troublemaker was the spitting image of his dad and had a personality to match — just as playful and affectionate.

The chill spring breeze from the window licked at the bare skin of your arm, causing you to shiver slightly, coming back from the land of reminiscing. You stretched on the bed, noticing how protruding your nipples became from the cold even while hidden by the gentle fabric of your nightgown. Pulling the covers up, you grunted under your breath, wondering what was taking Baekhyun so long.

Just as you did, the door cracked open, and your husband sauntered into the room.

‘Ah finally, I thought I needed to go rescue you again,’ you chuckled.

That had happened before. He once used the common bathroom to shower before bed and ended up captured by your daughter, who was around six or seven at the time, in the hallway. She then demanded cuddles, knowing that her father was too weak to turn his precious girl down and send her back to bed. You found them both huddled up asleep on the couch, with your husband’s head tilted dangerously to the side. Terrible sleeping postures always had consequences, so you spared him the agony of the next morning, waking him up mercifully and helping to get your little girl to her bed. This was only one of many occasions – Baekhyun was a softie.

This time, however, he was a bit stupefied.

He didn’t react to your remark and seemed like he was going on autopilot when he came closer and sat on the bed.

You lifted the covers, inviting him to join you, and he followed your lead, still staring at the wall across the room.

‘Yeobo,’ you called, getting slightly alarmed. ‘Are you okay?’

He blinked, the stupor breaking, and looked at you with astounded eyes.

‘I- I think,’ he began, making you shift to face him properly. ‘I think I just overheard our daughter watching porn!’

His voice lowered to a whisper by the end of that sentence.

‘Oh my god,’ you whispered back. ‘How do you figure?’

‘I was walking down the hallway, and I thought I heard something from her room. I didn’t fully register what it was, but now that it processed… It was definitely porn!’

The signs of distress on his face almost caused you to break down in a fit of laughter. You held it in with all you got. Fathers and daughters, the eternal struggle.

‘First of all, ew. Aren’t you even a little bit ashamed to be eavesdropping on your kids like that?’ You didn’t let him protest. ‘Also, how do you even know it was porn, you know she sometimes mumbles and whimpers in her sleep. Like someone else we know…’

Giving him a pointed look, you leaned over his chest to turn the lights to the lowest mode, leaving the room dimly lit. It was always effective when you wanted to help him relax.

‘I wasn’t ea- And you think I can’t tell what porn sounds like? There are some generic… sounds. That give it away.’

‘When was the last time you watched it?’ You murmured, eyeing him curiously.

Of all people, you knew best how short his attention span was. Sometimes it could work to your advantage. Like right now, when you needed to de-escalate this before you could reason with him.

‘I- wh- I don’t know, probably when you were pregnant,’ he recalled. ‘The third one was somehow the toughest on me. You looked way too attractive for a heavily pregnant lady, let me tell you.’

‘Heavily pregnant??’ You scoffed, softening right after. ‘Well, you have a point, he was pretty huge. I swear, if he doesn’t grow up to be taller than Chanyeol, I’d be offended. That boy’s giant head prolonged my healing by at least a month.’

Baekhyun sighed and looked up at the ceiling, thinking back to that time.

‘He was the only one who caused you to tear, right?’

‘Yeah. Which is weird, considering that he was my third one. Ah well, I guess I’m not getting any younger…’

‘Aren’t you though? I’m constantly being asked about my pretty young wife,’ Baekhyun smiled at you charmingly. ‘And you only became prettier after the third pregnancy. I say it’s the hormones.’

Your cunning little plan was working. He was incredibly easy to distract.

‘Tell me the truth, was it the boobs? Or my butt? I did gain the most weight with the little daredevil, that’s for sure.’

‘It was all of you. You always looked so sexy when pregnant, I just wanted to have you all to myself,’ he cooed at you. ‘To feed you handpicked strawberries. And smother you with kisses. My beautiful young wife.’

At some point during this conversation, you shuffled closer to each other, now cuddled up snugly on the bed. Your finger slowly traced abstract patterns on his chest, happily exploiting the access to his skin where his pajama shirt was unbuttoned.

‘Ah, you’re just saying that to get under my nightgown,’ you batted your eyelashes at him, and he shook his head.

‘Maybe a little, but that’s true. And it’s not surprising that people are noticing – you are younger than me.’

‘A couple of years is nothing at our age,’ you murmured, bending your knee and moving your leg slightly up his to get cozy.

‘Well, you know what people say… Small kids make parents younger. Wanna have another one?’ He nudged you gently and laughed at the dirty look you gave him.

‘Yeobo- please don’t make jokes like this. I’d rather look for other elixirs of youth than go through that entire ordeal again.’

You knew that he was kidding, but the thought made you shiver.

‘I know, honey, I know. Like I said, you’re not in need of any elixirs.’

At this you relaxed, melting into his shoulder, and guiding his arm to wrap around you, warming your exposed shoulders.

‘Well, Mr Byun, same to you. Still as charming as two decades ago.’

‘Hey, I’d like to think that I’m more charming now. The experience and all.’

‘Who helped you gain all that experience though?’ You poked him lightly, and a low chesty laugh escaped his lips.

‘Of course, it was my one and only, my young, and beautiful, and smart and sexy little wife,’ he punctuated each compliment with a chaste kiss to your cheeks, nose, lips, and neck.

You squirmed in his arms.

‘Ah, you make a woman go mad,’ you purred into his lips mockingly.

He snickered softly, ready to lean in, but then stopped abruptly.

‘Wait a second- What about-’

‘Baekhyun…’ You murmured as he fussed on the bed.

‘I should probably go in there, and-’

‘And what? Embarrass your daughter?’ You held him down. ‘She’s sixteen, honey, it’s just the hormones. We’ve both been there. Let her be.’ You nuzzled his neck, pressing your lips to his sensitive skin lazily.

His mind was growing cloudy again since your hand was now caressing his inner thigh foxily. He’d probably realized what you were doing by now, but you were right, so he allowed you to sway him into giving the idea of an immediate intervention up.

‘Besides, I’m sure you wouldn’t be nearly as appalled if that was our eldest,’ you scoffed and added in an exaggerated tone. ‘Never took you for a sexist.’

‘But- he’s eighteen, and she- she’s my little girl…’ He mumbled in a small voice, hazed further by your not-so-subtle seduction. ‘I can’t let her- watch that-’

‘Don’t worry, yeobo,’ you whispered soothingly in his ear, slipping your hand into his loose pants. ‘I’ll talk to her tomorrow. Without you. No need to traumatize the poor girl, that’s how daddy issues develop.’

‘You should know,’ he bit back meekly, sighing when you finally wrapped your fingers around his semi-hard length.

‘The sass! It’s almost like you still got it, Mr Byun. Care to impress that young wife of yours?’

‘I sure will, you cunning woman,’ he growled playfully, completely giving in to it and attacking your laughing mouth as he lifted the covers over your head.

A/N: Thank you for reading! As usual, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments/ asks, and if you’re new – check out my Masterlist ^^

[androgynousblackbox]

that fuckin newest RaM episode is trying so hard to make Daphne an unattractive alien but SOMEONE out there will be into the elbow titties. Also the fact that rick was one acid rain away from taking morty to a suck-and-fuck-a-thlon instead of summer is so There holy shit. Also Morty going SO violent and killing a bunch of people without so much as blinking without like. anything like the 'purgenol' excuse ,is just, he's really embracing the rick way of life huh

lol I have seen actual dick elbow porn so I have no doubt that Daphne wasn't even exaggerating when she said that her elbow was the cause of wars. Also, I hope you don't mind I take your comment as a excuse to dump my thoughts: -Okay, so the whole plot literally being nothing else but "Morty ditches Rick for a girl and Rick rebounds on literally the first available alien who says hello to him" is SO FUCKING GAY. Like, literally, imagine that the age gap and them being related wasn't an issue at all and you saw the two main characters doing this... We would see video essays, twitter threads and long tumblr posts all talking about how this is definitely queerbaiting because NO straight friends act this way. At the very least we would have people talking about how Rick obviously had a one sided crush and the tags would be fucking floded with angsty fics all about ending on Morty reciprocating his feelings. I fucking garanteed it, I promise, because I have seen similar stuff on other fandoms and that is how they always reacted. -The difference is that the ship being baited is a gross problematic one so the only ones who give a fuck about it are the gross problematic people like me. I feel legit curious to see what normies even think about this and if the obvious overtone flew over their heads. -Because, like, Rick just didn't made a whole show of replacing Morty with Summer to go to the end of the world parties in front of Morty, up and including replacing Morty's name with Summer on the almost destroyed shirt. He actually reverts back to his worst habits, drinking until he can barely talk, something he hasn't done IN SO LONG and it reminded me to the pilot episode where he kidnaps Morty for the first time. For a while we see that Rick still drink, just not when around Morty, and this further proof that. Not only that, but instead of just dip into alien orgy to forget everything, he looked for validation on Daphne to have someone care/love for him. He wants to feel wanted and loved, but it's not even enough to have the love of Summer in the end because all he really wanted was to have Morty with him. -A thing to remember about Morty becoming more like Rick is that we haven't had any moment of Rick SEEING him acting that way. He probably doesn't even know about Morty masacrating the Narnia world on his own or killing all the Planetina's childrens, so we can wonder what could his reaction be when he finally sees it with his own eyes and how much it affects him. Rick WANTS Morty to be a better man than himself, he wants it so badly that he was willing to die on it, so seeing Morty just being the same could actually break his heart or make him realize that he was, in fact, a bad influence. -Also! We had already three whole episodes setting Morty's side adventures without Rick. That whole going to buy a customized shirt was the happiest we have see them together in a long while, and I am counting season 4 too, so it seems to me like they are setting up a break up for the two of them that, I hope, will be about Morty realizing that he does misses Rick and wanting him back again. I just feel like the plot wants to go that way because they keep hammering us with the idea that Morty is done with Rick's bullshit (as he should, rightfully so), but the show IS Rick and Morty so obviously they can't get them separated for long nor they can't keep doing the "Morty is pissed, Rick does nothing about it" bit because that will get old very soon. -BUT ALSO, to me the whole episode showed that Morty needs Rick to keep himself in check or he will go on a rampage and feel justified on doing so. He still has his morals, enough to break up with Planetina when she is hurting innocents, but for how long? If his only answer when faced with a problem is violence, what does that say about him? With Rick he could have just stollen the rings, wouldn't have caused Narnia to go after him, could there have been more possibilities than just come in and kill everyone that poses any inconvenience to him. -But on the other hand, Morty is the reason why

Rick tries so hard not to indulge on his own self destructive tendencies. They need each other to balance themselves out and try to be, no matter how many times they fail, the best version of themselves. They both need to realize this and stop looking for validation in other places (Rick his delusions of being more than a man, Morty with all his attempts at girlfriends). They belong with each other, and I don't even mean it on a shippy way because I hold no actual hope that they will make C137cest canon any time soon, but like in general. -I am so sad for Morty, though. His little "nobody send me flowers before" just fucking kills me, like omg, this fucking kid is a incurable fucking romantic at heart that just want someone to appreciate him and he had to be the one to break it off. I was so glad to see Beth being the one to comfort him at least, especially because Beth always prefered Summer or was too fucking drunk to care about either of her children and now she's actually trying to be a mom. -Speaking of Beth, I was so proud of her in general. Like, going from a alcoholic neglectful ass to just a regular ass whine mom that only drinks to relax and not to forget everything? That is fucking progress. Overall I really loved this episode.

[the-golden-ghost]

1-3 for Marsha, 8, 10, 11, and 12 for Infernus, 14-16 for Vesper, 20-23 for Sylvetta, 24, 27, and 28 for Illumina, and 33, 34, 36, and 41 for Molch!

Oh, this is fantastic, thank you!

Marsha:

1. What is your OC’s favorite color?

Probably brown or green. Lucky she lives in a swamp, isn’t it? Somehow I don’t think Marsha really gives a damn about color, though.

2. Does your OC collect anything? What do they collect?

Frogs 

Nice woven baskets to keep stuff in 

Cool rocks (bring her a cool rock and she’ll give you 50% off a spell but don’t tell anyone)

3. What kind of things is your OC allergic to?

I’m pretty sure if she had allergies they cleared up a looooooong time ago.

Fernie:

8. What is your OC’s theme song?

Disco Inferno lmao

10. What deadly sin would best represent your OC?

Hmmmm maybe envy? He kinda wants to be recognized as one of the most powerful and useful wizards but while he has power, his abilities are more what you’d usually call “a nuisance.” He’s a bit resentful over that.

11. What are your OC’s hobbies?

Apparently baking, as of recently. He also does alchemy and... probably landscaping, via burning down and melting the landscape around him. Fun?

12. How patient is your OC? How hot-headed are they?

He’s surprisingly not that hot-headed for a guy who is made of lava but that doesn’t mean you should pester him incessantly. He DOES have his limits.

Vesper:

14. What foods does your OC like to eat? What are their least favorite foods?

Vesper doesn’t need to eat (none of them do) but they prefer light, sweet but not-to-sweet foods like those little cake things that are hollow inside. I can’t remember the name of them right now. Their least favorite food is definitely liver because of the texture and flavor. Nasty.

15. If your OC could have any pet, what would they choose? Why?

Something nocturnal! Maybe an owl or a raccoon. Probably an owl though, since they sing in the evening.

16. What does your OC smell like?

Night air, wet grass and moonflowers.

Sylvetta:

20. If they came from their world to ours (if not already in ours) how would they react? What would they do?

Well, it would be really weird since Sylvetta looks like a living puppet so I think people would scream and run. But probably she’d just go shopping and hoard a bunch of crap and then take it all home with her and try to figure out if she can mess with it. I think she’d LOVE video games.

21. What personal problems/issues do they have? Pet peeves?

She’s just kinda odd? She’s doesn’t really have any restraint on what she can and will do which causes problems, less for herself than for others. She’s pretty inconsiderate overall and her modus operandi is “who cares, everyone will either die or forget about it in a hundred years anyway so why bother being accountable to anyone” and she’s not totally wrong. She also doesn’t see her “creatures” as fully autonomous (her main ability is creating life, a la Frankenstein, and she’s about as kind and responsible for the life she creates as he is). So there’s that. I could probably list some of her other interpersonal issues but there’s a WHOOOLE lot

As for pet peeves, uh... huh. She doesn’t like termites or fire (for obvious reasons) and she gets annoyed when people bring up shit she did in the past like “MAN that was like three hundred years ago, get over it already!” Like I said, she’s not a fan of Accountability.

22. What kind of student were they/would they be in high school?

Probably a straight-B student. She did complete high school before she did her wizard training, so that’s actually certainly what she was. The kind of student who’s actually really smart but doesn’t care and can’t be bothered, so doesn’t study.

23. What is a random fact about your OC?

Because she’s made of wood she can saw off parts of her own body and reattach/replace them. Which is creepy but sometimes if parts of her crack or wear away, it’s gotta be done!

Illumina:

24. What is their outlook on life? What is their philosophy / what do they think in general about living?

She knows she’s gonna live forever so she tries to be chill about it. Holding on to things is kind of pointless when you know for a fact that life is changeable and things do not stay the same. 

She’s actually quite attached to the other wizards because of this, seeing them as the only constant in her eternal life, but when Molch dies, even that becomes suspect. Which pretty much leaves her to take a “live fast die young wreak havoc and care about nothing” approach.

27. What kind of childhood did your character have?

A pretty good one, if a bit dull. She just lived in the village, went to school, went home. She had a little sister and loving parents who supported her in everything. She actually discovered she had Magical Talents at a young age, probably around the age of 13, but the other wizards refused to train her until she was certain she wanted to take this path. The assumed she wouldn’t, since she had a loving, stable home and a future ahead of her, but she actually did.

28. What kind of nervous habits do they have? Do they stim? Do they have any kinds of addictions?

Sometimes she uses her magic to distract from awkward situations (she’s an illusionist) but she does not stim that I’m aware of yet, and although she may be addicted to Causing Problems on Purpose (delicately, though. Only pranks, she’s not malicious) she doesn’t really have any others.

Molch:

33. Would they ever kill someone? What would someone have to do to push them to kill someone? If they would kill someone, why?

I’m not sure he could kill someone if he wanted to. He’s physically large, clumsy, and slow-moving, with soft delicate skin and a fragile neck. His only real advantage is that he’s big, otherwise he’s more likely to get killed in a physical brawl. His magic isn’t any good for attacking, either.

He’s also too gentle-natured and gullible to really want to kill anyone (or to not be tricked into switching sides).

To push him into attempting to kill... well, yikes. You’d have to not only be a major threat to virtually anyone around you and have done deplorable things to innocent people, but also declare that you have no intention of ever changing and will absolutely do it again.

34. What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually?

Sometimes he gets visits from the village children, who treat him as a Wise Old Mage, which is funny to him, since Wise is one thing he isn’t! But within the group of wizards, when he gathers with them, he likes to play the role of the Helper and Emotional Support Salamander. In reality he’s usually the goofball, the Team Idiot. He simply isn’t very bright, and the others know it. But he likes to feel needed.

36. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain?

This is corny but he mostly just wants love and companionship. Unfortunately wizard life isn’t much good for that. He used to keep pets but they’re mortal, obviously, so that’s a problem. He contents himself with the visits he sometimes gets from the villagers. If he can’t live among them, he can at least make himself useful to them.

Actually, that Need to Be Useful is quite a drive as well. He collects things and gives them away to anyone who’ll ask and rarely denies any kind of request. There are things he Won’t do (he won’t hurt anyone else, for example) but any cost to himself is worth it.

Which makes him, in essence, the ultimate self-sacrificer and that’s where the plot comes in!

41. What does your character do when they’re angry? Why?

Molch is one of those people who cries when he’s angry rather than when he’s sad. Since he’s rarely angry, very few people have ever actually seen him cry.

[kcwcommentary]

VLD3x02 – “Red Paladin”

3x02 – “Red Paladin”

Sunrise over a shattered town on Puig. A ship of a design not yet seen on the show suddenly shows up over the town. (The episode unrealistically shows no one reacting to the ship until it’s literally right over the town.) The townsman yells that they’re under attack, so either the Puigians are still on edge because of the recent conflict and ousting of the Galra from the planet, or they’ve seen hostile ships that look like this one while we viewers haven’t. Cut to inside: It’s Lotor’s generals, who literally jump out of the ship and land easily. Acxa gives orders – find the leader, take prisoners, and kill none one – to the other three, so she must be the one in charge of the group. The Puigians try to fight them off, but they’re no match. Narti can see through her cat. Zethrid wrestles with a large beast of burden. Ezor gets to the leader before he can call for help.

They all, Lotor included, converge on the location of the leader. As much as they have a gentler hand compared to what is normal for Galra, Lotor and his generals are still highly aggressive and domineering. Just because they’re not as bad as most Galra doesn’t mean they’re not still a bunch of bullies. The Puigian leader speaks more bravely and defiantly than his personality last episode would have suggested. Lotor rejects the idea that it’s possible for the Puigians to be free because Voltron isn’t there to continuously defend them. So, it’s not like Lotor doesn’t think the Galra should enslave people, he just wants to be less brutal in the process.

“Join us, and you’ll never need Voltron again,” Lotor says. Since no one but the Galra are a threat, the only reason they need Voltron in the first place is because of Lotor and the other Galra. Again, Lotor and the generals are bullies.

Team Voltron is still trying to figure out what to do about Voltron without Shiro. Pidge brings up that Allura made her big pilot-Lion pairing proclamation back in 1x02 “From Days of Long Ago.” Allura says she can’t do the same thing now that she did then. She says back then she “immediately recognized the special qualities in each of [them].” That’s a big handwave since getting to know someone takes time; she’s saying then she didn’t need time, but now she does?

Coran brings up that Keith has piloted the Black Lion before, once to save Shiro. Of course, that seems to me more that that was to save Shiro, not because Keith had a bond with or met the preferred qualities of the Black Lion. Of course, Lance is instantly jealous. Pidge instantly identifies Keith as being “The Loner.” Maybe he’s not a loner, maybe he just doesn’t like being around people who are so instantly dismissive of him as Pidge is being here. Honestly, if Pidge spoke about me the way she is of Keith here, I wouldn’t want to be around her.

Lance says he doesn’t want Keith to lead him, and Keith reacts strongly, saying, “I don’t want to be the leader, that’s just what Shiro wanted.” Most seem to respect the idea that Shiro wanted Keith to replace him, but Lance is obnoxious and rejects it. “I never heard Shiro say that, and how convenient that you’re bringing it up now that Shiro is gone,” Lance says. As if Lance would be privy to everyone else’s private conversations. Lance’s behavior might be a little more understandable if this show ever explained where this supposed rivalry between him and Keith came from. As it is, the rivalry seems like nothing but a bullet point in a list of supposed characteristics, not something actually derived from a conceived history between the two characters. Without any underlying cause to explain the rivalry, it’s impossible to see any validity to Lance’s behavior here beyond him just being mean.

Keith tells Lance if he wants to be leader so badly, go for it. It’s clear that Keith doesn’t want the position. I wouldn’t want to lead these people either if I were Keith.

Now Hunk jumps in, saying that since he “called the head from the very beginning,” he should be leader. Pidge says because she’s the one who discovered the transmission that led them to Voltron in the first place, she should be leader. (She’s not being accurate though; that transmission only led them to Shiro. They found Blue as a bit of a team effort, though that effort started with Keith long before Pidge was involved.) The behavior of Lance, Hunk, and Pidge in this scene demonstrates once again that none of them are actually upset that Shiro’s gone. They’re arguing like children over toys. One might would think that having spent the past extended period of time fighting in a war, they would have matured at least somewhat, but no.

Coran interrupts them to say that the Lions get a say in this. Allura concurs, saying that they all have to “present themselves to the Lions.” Coran is shocked Allura would present herself, but Allura says if she expects others to fight in battle, she has to be willing to fight just as they would. It’s a fair point. In a way, it’s parallel to Lotor’s unwillingness to stand back and send others to fight for him that was mentioned last episode.

They each sit in Black. She doesn’t respond to Allura, to Pidge, or to Hunk. Coran confronts Hunk over how little time he waited for a response, and Hunk answers that he doesn’t want to leave Yellow. Thankfully, the show does have Coran call Hunk out on how in the previous scene he had said he wanted to be the head. Hunk says he wanted to do that with the Yellow Lion. Of all the people to say/think such a thing: The engineer of the group demonstrates that despite working with Voltron as long as he has, he still has no mind about how it works. It’s really hard to not use the word stupid to describe these characters’ behavior. Black doesn’t respond to Lance either.

Finally, Keith accedes to Allura’s request and tries. As he sits in Black, he talks as if to Shiro, and Black responds. “Please, no,” Keith quietly begs as Black’s systems come online. It’s heartbreaking to see Keith like this. Keith still rejects the idea of being the team leader. Lance (until they choose to write him obnoxiously again) is now okay with the idea of Keith as leader, saying Black has chosen Keith. This shift in Lance’s behavior is such a severe turn in his character that it doesn’t feel realistic or earned. I would need to see Lance wrestling with himself over this to buy this change.

They then think about who’ll replace Keith in the Red Lion. And here’s part of the problem with this storyline. It’s one thing to say Black needs a new pilot, even to say that Black has chosen Keith as that pilot, but Keith is bonded to Red. Keith is significantly bonded to Red. We’ve seen Red come from across great distance to rescue Keith multiple times in the first two seasons of the show. But now, here, there’s no problem with Keith just walking away from Red. His bond with Red simply ceases to exist.

Allura tries with Red. It would make so much sense for her to pilot Red, as she says, “to follow in [Alfor’s] footsteps.” For that matter, it would have made sense for her to have piloted Black too. Of the remaining people on this ship, she is already a leader. But Red does not respond to her. She begs Red, ending up crying, saying that others are risking their lives. She doesn’t seem to recognize all the times so far in this story that she’s risked her life. I really don’t like the idea that she doesn’t understand she hasn’t been as sheltered from the fight as she seems to think she has.

Lotor’s having a meeting with his generals. The details, such as they are, of the intelligence they have on Voltron hits a few of my buttons. The maps they display look like they’re of solar systems. Axca meanwhile uses the word “quadrants” to describe the areas that she’s reporting on. I really don’t like how easily shows use the word “quadrant” while seemingly ignoring that by nature of the word itself, it only reduces an area into four parts. Since this show is dealing with an area on the scale of the whole universe (I still often think this show would have fit better if it took place only in one galaxy), a “quadrant” is an astoundingly huge area. So, a report on appearances in a “quadrant” doesn’t effectively narrow down anything. Lotor notices from the information that the Black Lion hasn’t made any appearances lately.

Back to the Paladins. “A new Paladin? Where would we even start looking?” Pidge asks. Everyone was willing to shuffle around if it meant they would get Black, but now that it’s an issue of someone to be with Red, only Allura’s checking to see if Red would accept her? Oh, and why hasn’t Coran been a part of this, shouldn’t he be a potential Paladin too? Ultimately, this whole plot is unnatural. It’s written to give an excuse to put characters where the EPs want them, not because it is the natural outcome of what these characters would do.

Lance suggests a mermaid Paladin; please, let’s not revisit that terrible episode. As they start suddenly remembering that the people in this room aren’t the entire population of the universe, they start shouting out the names of alien species they’ve met in the show. Spontaneously, a communication from the leader of the Puig pops up on a nearby display screen. The way communications to the Castle Ship just spontaneously start without anyone on the Castle’s side of the communication having to effectively answer the phone is so strange to me.

Turns out the Puigian leader wasn’t exactly calling for help himself, he was being mentally controlled by Narti. Like Ezor’s invisibility, this is a significant ability. It’s one thing for Narti to be able to see through her cat, but how is she able to mentally control people? We haven’t seen other Galra with psychic skills like this, so is this supposed to be some ability she has through her non-Galra side? Unless I’m not remembering others, Narti also joins Antok in being the only two Galra shown to have tails. I’m not a fan of how loosely this show plays with the concept of species. It’s become such a trope in space-based science fiction at this point, but different species from different planets would not be able to produce offspring. If Narti can control people like this, I’m surprised that she’s been allowed to exist given how tightly Zarkon and Haggar have kept the reigns of power. I would think they would have worried she could turn her mind control ability on them. Mostly, it’s just this show never actually thinking through the logistics of the situation.

Voltron, now without a Red Paladin, goes to help Puig. Keith, now in Black, is still thinking of Shiro. Blue won’t let Lance board her. Why? Why in the world would Blue suddenly reject Lance? Again, this whole episode is about contorting the characters to fit a desired outcome, not following the characters to what would be a natural outcome for them. The EPs decreed that Lance replace Keith as the Red Paladin, so they have to get him out of Blue. But Lance is supposed to be bonded to Blue. And rather than taking the time to dissolve the bond between Lance and Blue, they just have Blue shut him out so that he has to go to Red. This story is so disrespectful of everything the show has done in the past two seasons.

We get to see what Puig looks like from space in this episode. Once again, this show visually designs a planet that is not a planet. Puig looks like the left-over core from an apple that’s been eaten. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

Lotor starts speaking. Why the show puts an echo on his voice, as if he’s speaking through an amplification system to be heard over a distance when he’s on a ship in space, I don’t know. More of the show not actually caring that they’re telling a story set in space, I guess. Lotor attacks Black, Green, and Yellow.

I actually feel bad for Lance when he says to Blue, “Do you hate me now?” Lance’s wanting to fly Black would not invalidate the bond he had with Blue though. Ugh, the show then writes Lance to flirt with Blue.

I like that Keith has difficulty piloting Black, that the controls of Black don’t respond for him the way the controls of Red do. It would take time to adjust. This is probably the most realistic thing to happen in this episode.

“Not only am I not meant to be the leader, I guess now I’m not even meant to be a Paladin,” Lance says. This does touch on what came up in 2x10 “Escape from Beta Traz” about Lance’s significant insecurities. This is an important aspect of his character, so I’m glad to see it return. It doesn’t explain why his bond with Blue is suddenly nonexistent. And these insecurities are instantly set aside, unaddressed, because Red roars for Lance. Why Red is interested in Lance now, especially in this moment in which Lance is feeling sad makes no sense. Red is supposed to be notably aggressive. Of all the moments in this episode in which Red would bond with Lance, right now when Lance is at his lowest is not when it would happen.

I do like that Lance thinks Red might would be roaring for Allura. Given how he has treated Allura in the past, it’s nice that he has a moment that is kind, genuine, and shows him capable of seeing Allura as being a person and not just as a target of his flirtations.

Allura, however, says that because Red is the right-hand of Voltron, and Lance accepted Keith as the new leader, that that’s why Red wants Lance now. Of course, everyone has accepted Keith as the new leader, so that doesn’t explain why Red wants Lance and not someone else. Again, this all feels so forced.

Lance jumps in Red and heads out. Allura’s walking away from Blue, and Blue lowers her shields and lightly growls to get Allura’s attention.

Lotor orders the attack to specifically target the Black Lion; he can apparently tell that Keith’s not adept at flying Black yet. Hunk and Pidge ask Keith what to do. Keith says attack the ship. Pidge responds, “Can you be more specific? We need an actual plan.” I really don’t like the voice acting on Pidge for this line; she is severely condescending.

Lance and Red show up and destroy dozens of fighters in mere seconds. The attack capacity for the Lions fluctuates so wildly on this show. One minute, a Lion can be overwhelmed by having to deal with three fighters, the next, a Lion blows up several dozens in one blast. It’s so inconsistent.

The Castle Ship finally shows up to the battle. Even with the trouble they’ve had with the Lions, I don’t know why the Castle Ship is only now arriving to the battle. Its prior absence is contrived.

“Wow, we really are kind of a mess! We need to get organized. Keith, what should we do?” Pidge says. Her voice is still condescending.

Blue, piloted by Allura, enters the battle. There is no explanation as to why Blue is apparently now bonded to Allura. It really is that there was just an empty spot in the team that the show wedged her into.

After the battle, Lance talks to Blue. There’s still no explanation as to why his bond to Blue is severed. Even if Red was interested in Lance, that doesn’t explain why Lance and Blue’s bond would be gone. Lance sounds genuinely sad about not piloting Blue. It ends up feeling more like Lance is being forced into Red, not that he naturally fits there either through personality or development of the plot.

Allura’s Paladin armor is pink, which she says is a color worn to honor fallen warriors. She says she’s wearing it to honor Shiro, but that would make this the first time the show’s shown her to care about him being gone. Of course, she’s in pink because that’s what she wore in the 80s version of Voltron. Girls = pink; we get it. Lance hands over the blue bayard.

Keith leaves in Black. Somehow during the battle, he put a tracker on Lotor’s ship. He didn’t bother telling anyone that he had done so until now as he’s in pursuit of Lotor’s ship. The episode ends with him proclaiming that if everyone wants him to lead, that this is how he’s doing it. You’ve got to be kidding me. I get that Keith might not have the social skills of being a leader, but he’s not tactically illiterate. If he was going to have the team mount an attack against Lotor, he would not just fly off by himself.

This episode was exhausting to get through. It took longer to process than most episodes. The Paladin switch is uninspired and unnatural. None of what happens in this episode feels like the logical outcome of events. I can buy Keith in Black for a while. The show did set up last season the idea of Keith replacing Shiro. But I don’t buy that Black is actually interested in Keith. I can only see Keith as temporarily in Black as a way of Black trying to continue the fight. We later learn that Black right now has Shiro’s soul in her psychic space, which demonstrates Black is unwilling to actually move on from Shiro dying. Any acceptance Keith has from Black is temporary, per the structure of the story of Shiro’s death and eventual return.

But Red taking Lance makes no sense. The severance of the bond between Lance and Blue is insulting to what the show has done with them in the past two seasons. Allura in Blue makes no sense, with there being no bond between them whatsoever. Ultimately, this whole plot feels like it’s being forced.

[fatphobiabusters]

Mobile Version: Submissions Policy

[Please Don’t Reblog this Post. Thanks.]

Below is the contents of our Submissions Policy page, but for mobile users. To find this page again, please use the search bar to search either for “Submission Policy,” “Ask and Submission Guidelines,” or “Mobile Submission Policy.”

Please pay attention as this page will likely be updated regularly. You should review the guidelines and look for changes whenever a new update is available.

Last Updated in February, 2019.

Dear Current and Future Followers,

Thank you for taking the time to grace our blog with your presence. We appreciate you being here.

Below are all of the guidelines for sending submissions to our blog. Please review these guidelines carefully before sending us a submission.

We want to make sure everyone’s experience on our blog is as pleasurable as possible, and having people send submissions that are upsetting, are repeats of previous questions, or are full of unnecessary/offensive language make people’s experiences on our blog less delightful.

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Most of our guidelines for submissions are exactly the same as the guidelines for our asks, so please review our Ask Policy before you send us a submission as well! This page will only focus on the guidelines that are unique to submissions, but the guidelines in both pages apply at all times. Please keep that in mind when you write your submission.

If any of the guidelines are unclear to you (for example, if you don’t understand what a specific rule is asking or aren’t sure what would qualify as breaking that rule), or if you need further elaboration on any of the guidelines, please let us know. We are more than happy to help you with this.

Thank you for making an effort to learn our guidelines, for following them, and for being so thoughtful and understanding.

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It should be pretty obvious which rules apply to both asks and submissions, but feel free to ask us if you are not sure.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and we hope you have a lovely day! Sincerely,

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[empty-church]

Review of Eaton's "12 Reasons Millennials Are Over Church"

About a month ago a friend of mine asked me to give him my opinion about a blog post entitled "12 Reasons Millennials Are OVER Church" by Sam Eaton (The headings 1-12 in quotes are quotes of his 12 reasons with my commentary appearing under). I read over it quickly and decided either I could give him a quick answer or sometimes actually take the time to review it for him. Well, I put it off until I all but forgot to get back to him so I decided to write him a whole blog post about what I think of it. Here is my response and review:

First of all, I HATE being called a millennial. I’d rather be called Generation Y which isn’t a real thing (I would call it from 1982-1996). I’ve talked to some people older than me who feel the same way, so I feel like we unofficially opt-in to a different group together.

Whether or not someone agrees with the 12 reasons, one must applaud Mr. Eaton for actually proposing solutions (though some of them are a little weak). I have read too many “____ are leaving the church” blogs that are more about blame than actually working together. 

 1) “Nobody’s Listening to Us”

I think that this is a sentiment that most generations share: that the other generations don’t care to listen. Now, generally speaking, he’s not wrong. Age groups tend to think the ones above and below them don’t understand. I think we need to stop saying that no one is listening and just get together and have conversations. If nothing happens after that, then maybe someone isn’t listening, but I think everyone is guilty of wanting to be heard but not wanting to listen. The same with hiring a pastor who can connect with millennials, it feels like a way for old school pastors to not have to listen to the younger generation. Almost like what happens with youth or children when we put them in a corner somewhere with a “babysitter” so we don't have to deal with them. As people, we certainly connect easier with certain types of people, but for someone to say I can’t (or won’t) work with ____ is to be ignorant. 

If Peter or Paul had ignored the gentiles you wouldn’t have the privilege of being able to select who you are “called” to. Jesus himself said that he was called to the children of Israel but still healed and attended to outsiders. 

If you want a young adults pastor just so you don’t have to interact with them, then you might want to check your heart, but that’s me trying to take your speck out I suppose. 

2) “We’re Sick of Hearing About Values and Mission Statements”

I second this! Some of them are pretty catchy, but I echo his echo that we already have a Biblical command to love God and love people with a mission to make disciples. Churches do get pretty wrapped up in statements to the point where they forget to make a plan on how to enact it. 

I do want to stress the importance of an organization to have a mission and vision. Here at Empty Church, we talk about the 6 days between Sundays with the church buildings are empty. What's that mean? As an organization, we have to help equip people to have faith 7 days a week rather than 1. I personally believe that ties in perfectly with the greatest commandment and the great commission. Our statement came out of what we started Empty Church for: faith being built through conversation. All our online content it meant to help people have a starting point for such conversations. 

3) “Helping the Poor Isn’t a Priority"

I'm not sure when the church started to forget this. It might have been when Republican became synonymous with Christian. It might be that the churches actually helping the poor don’t get PR so we don't know that they are doing it. 

I think he hit the nail on the head with this one. There is a love component that seems to be missing without service to the poor. The EC Crew definitely feels that we must serve outside of our organization to help others. 

I like his solutions of asking the people in the church about needs of people they know as well as being intentional abut setting up times to help out. Careful, though, that the “I served for this month” attitude does not arise, but cultivate an “anywhere anytime” culture that looks more like the good samaritan story. 

4) ”We’re Tired of You Blaming the Culture”

I do think the church does a lot of blaming. The problem is we pick and choose things from the culture deeming them either good or bad and we are too afraid to be rejected based on a Godly culture. We want acceptance and affirmation way too badly ( I am SUPER guilty of this). So we blame the world’s culture for the things we don't like and appropriate the “okay” things. Problem is, everyone has their own idea of what is okay since we aren’t looking to God for our morality.

He said to stop talking about the end times or at least in regards to, “how bad culture is” and I am half and half on this one. If he means we need to stop over reacting saying that the end is near only because the world looks like the world, then I agree. BUT we cannot stop talking about Jesus returning.

5) “The “You Can’t Sit With Us” Affect”

I agree with this. Some churches even have unofficial assigned seating. Here's my take on the whole thing: Humans naturally form groups with people we connect with. One of his solutions is to create authentic communities centered around service. 1) that is easier said than done. 2) communities have sub-groups which either count as a clique or eventually become one. Once a group starts to grow new smaller groups tend to emerge as well. 

At college I watched groups form, grow, explode, and merge. I saw how groups can look more like a molecule where some groups share common members but are not one large group but two groups linked. How is that a molecule? The molecule is the school community. All of the interconnected but distinct sub-groups of the school are the atoms. 

Am I defending “cliques?” No. that word carries a negative connotation of exclusivity which the author indicates by his likening church to Mean Girls. I completely agree. Churches often are a molecule with no available connections left and we turn people away. We must be intentional about not becoming so closed off that someone seeking to be a part of the faith community is not allowed. Sometimes they are turned away only because they are not wearing pink on Wednesday. Sometimes people visit a church gathering and realize that, although everyone is close and loving, they would never be included. (Side note: as I write this I see pictures on social media of some party where it looks like everyone was included except me. It feels like I am no longer their friend. People naturally cut off old connections to make room for new ones. But a loss of friendship is still a loss and it hurts.)

6) “Distrust and Misallocation of Resources” 

I hear the heart of this one. I have seen money wars in churches and how it can destroy. I do believe churches need to be more thoughtful on how they spend money, especially in the coming years (as I believe there will be less exemptions from the government). But I don't know if people need to know where every cent goes. That sentiment sounds like a control and trust issue to me. Why are churches the only organization that we want to see every cent? People donate to causes all the time that have HUGE overhead, but in the church world, we’ll pull our tithe if we thought money should have been spent on children rather than the homeless. 

Sure churches to use money for “better things.” But that is a slippery slope. Why? There is always something else we could be spending money on. Always. Oh, your church doesn’t have a huge mortgage? How much does it cost in upkeep? Couldn’t that money be spent better elsewhere? What about the people on payroll? Shouldn’t they donate their time and talent? What keeps the church from taking every cent they receive and giving it away? Isn’t that the ultimate end in this line of thinking? 

People expect the church to put money wherever they think the money should go and then under the guise of “transparency” complain when they money is spent elsewhere. Look it is true that churches buy some extravagant things that make us question if they money is being spent in the best ways, but money always makes people itchy. Churches split over which color carpet to buy, I’m not sure if the solution is a line item list where people can see when gram crackers were bought for a snack for kids (remember that money could have been used for the homeless). Before we say that our use of funds is the most correct we must have some empathy to see why someone else would want the money used for their cause - if we truly believe in our cause then money we personally should give to it rather than expecting the church to do it for us.

7) “We Want to Be Mentored, Not Preached At”

Empty Church certainly values mentoring and discipleship. Josh wrote a bunch of blogs about mentoring. Although I personally don’t have an “official” mentor, I definitely see Josh as a mentor as well as my friend. 

Empty Church strives to have a dialogue and not merely a monologue, which is why we have a time of discussion after the sermon every Sunday. We are trying to have something more than being preached at but a full exchange of ideas. I see the dialogue as a time for mentorship/ discipleship within the group but is not the traditional sense of a mentor.

8) “We Want to Feel Valued”

Everyone wants to feel valued. That’s a fact. I understand what the author is getting at as he describes churches that merely want millennials to be warm bodies to serve rather than interacting members of the group. 

I’ve been asked why we started a church rather than joining an already existing one and I think some of the answer comes from the fact that I don't think anyone would have let us try what we are doing.

The trust and exchange of ideas and methodologies between the generations is pretty piss-poor. Older people don’t want to try what the younger people think of and the younger people don’t think there is anything valuable from the older methods. Both thought processes are wrong. There needs to be a meeting of ideas. But both groups have to value each other first. 

9) “We Want You to Talk to Us About Controversial Issues (Because No One Is)”

This one is a good one. The church is famous for ignoring taboo things and then people learn about it from other sources. Example: children encounter porn and sexualized everything everywhere, way after children are over exposed or even addicted then we say “this is all bad” and it's too late. The author says that he does not expect a sex series, but I question why not? The vast majority of families see movies with sexual innuendos if not implied sex in them but the pastor cannot preach on biblical sex? Some would argue that that's for the parents to do when the time comes, but let's be realistic, most never cover it. Maybe I just don't know since I don't have kids, but even the earliest you could ever talk to them about it, they have already been exposed to it. Let’s stop the silence.

The same goes for now. There isn’t a dialogue going on about anything. Just unwritten rules about all kinds of things. Many people don't believe that science and religion and ever been compatible and then we wonder why one of the most scientifically informed generations no longer goes to church. 

10) “The Public Perception”

This one is a no-brainer. People do not trust churches anymore. People see churches more as greedy entities rather than the generous, loving, and serving groups that they should be. Public perception is that Christians are hypocrites. That hurts me. They can call us fools. That's fine with me. But we should be fools to the point that we follow the foolishness. Not fools who don't even believe their own foolishness. 

11) “Stop Talking About Us (Unless You’re Actually Going to Do Something)”

"If you want the respect of our generation, under-promise and over-deliver."  -- Sam Eaton

I read articles all the time about how crappy millennials are. I read articles all the time about how millennials are leaving the church. I read many articles that voice complaints about millennials. I love that they author issues a challenge for people to actually do something rather than just talking. 

12) You’re Failing to Adapt

I like his appeal to try new things and to take risks. It makes me think of the Magic School bus quote about taking risks, make mistakes, and get messy. 

Conclusion:

I see a lot of blame from both sides. Even this article seems to blame the older generation for not acknowledging millennials. There is many “we’s” and “you’s” - showing a divide. 

I feel as if the article as a whole is the same old story of two generations not understanding each other. It shows how we need more communication and less blame. The only problem is that people do not want to listen but want to be right. Until we have a dialogue, each generation will continue to not to understand each other.

About the Author | Sean Kready Twitter – Facebook – Instagram – Snapchat An imperfect Christian, who sins on the daily, but tries to share his journey so that we all might know God better. This is our offering. An act of worship. Please remember our Rules For Discussion when commenting.

From Pew to Pulpit Critiquing the church-going experience. Why? Because we love the Church and we are trying to figure it our for ourselves.

→ For more Pew to Pulpit blogs, click here.

[the-ghost-of-jason-todd]

Okay, I'll do the boatload for my guys. But that means you've gotta do evens for Danny, then.

I’m offended that you missed the chance to ask for #43 for Danny, because that would have been hilarious.

2. Does your OC collect anything?  What do they collect?

Does ‘bruises’ count?  He’s a fighter, he collects bruises like trophies.  He doesn’t really have any physical collections--he’s not that into things, he gets bored easily.

4.  What kind of clothing does your OC wear?

He wears anything that is oversized, masculine, and can be layered like FUCK.  He’s wearing three shirts at any given moment.  Partly it’s to hide the binder and the boobs.  Partly it’s just because he’s already tall af and he likes looking even more intimidating.

6. What’s your OC’s favorite animal?  Least favorite?

Danny is TOTALLY a creepy crawly/reptile kid.  He’d own a snake if he could.  He HATES fish, though, and doesn’t know why (hint: it’s repressed memories).

8. What is your OC’s theme song?

LMFAO at his basest and most pure, that boy is Born to be Wild.

10. What deadly sin would best represent your OC?

Wrath.  If you gotta ask, you’ve never met him.

12. How patient is your OC?  How hot-headed are they?

Boy howdy.  The only time Danny can be patient is when he’s waiting for you to fold while playing poker.  He’s crafty and smart and he knows when he’s going to win, which makes him INSUFFERABLE.  And the only time he’s not acting hot-headed about something is when he has to go on the defensive to protect his little sibs from his mom.

14. What foods does your OC like to eat?  What are their least favorite foods?

Like me, he has a complicated relationship with food.  He tries his best to be practical about what and how he eats because he has a past with an eating disorder and food triggers.  He cannot, for instance, eat chinese food.  He’s always down for something sweet, though, even if he hates to admit it.

16. What does your OC smell like? 

A little like cigarettes.  Sometimes like sweaty cotton.  Rarely, when his mom isn’t around, he smells like men’s soap.

18. What are your OC’s greatest fears? Weaknesses? Strengths?

Whoo boy.  Fears: his mom, vulnerability, defeat, HIS MOM, his mom finding out that he’s trans, mostly just his mom’s reactions to things.  Weaknesses: too many to count.  Anger issues, problems with emotional regulation, proclivity towards self-destruction, over reactionary behavior, triggers, the fact that if you taunt him in just the right way he will act like a totally predictable berserker.  Strengths: he’s a strategist, if he can keep his cool long enough to implement an actual strategy.  He is good with puzzles, math, and interpersonal manipulation, both good and bad.  He wins every single game of cards he plays.  Every.  Single.  One.

20. If they came from their world to ours (if not already in our’s) how would they react? What would they do?

Depending on the timeline... he’d take fucking advantage of everyone he met.  Heck, I’m pretty sure he’d manipulate me if we met.

22. What kind of student were they/would they be in high school?

You’d think that as a bully who spends his time hitting people and getting drunk that he’d be pretty bad at school, but tbh he gets by just fine.  Though he is in public school, which really doesn’t set the bar that high.  He isn’t overtly disruptive, but he can cause an upheaval in any class if he so chooses.  Mostly he just enjoys smart-assing his teachers.

24. What is their outlook on life? What is their philosophy / what do they think in general about living?

Conquer or be conquered.  Sometimes it’s more like... violate or be violated, which is p bad, but sometimes that happens when you get, y’know, violated.

26. Who is the most important person in their life? Why? Who is the least important to them (that still has an impact) and why?

Usually it’s his Uncle P who’s the most important.  P is basically the only person in his life who is 1) stable, sane, and healthy, and 2) still tries to help him.  His Aunt Morgan probably falls into the other category, because while she’s mostly stable, sane, and healthy, she also cannot STAND her nephew.  They fight whenever they come in contact.

28. What kind of nervous habits do they have? Do they stim? Do they have any kinds of addictions?

Danny smokes.  He hides it p well, mostly because his mom also smokes so she can’t smell it on him.  He is very unkind to his own body, actually--in addition to the smoking, he refuses to wear short sleeves even in the WORST kind of heat because he’s nervous about his body, and his first instinct is ALWAYS to hit something.  Occasionally ‘something’ happens to be a wall.

30. Do they want to get married? Why or why not? Would they ever want kids? Do they have kids? Why?

...tbh he has put this question off indefinitely.  He refuses to think about it.  He has no sense of self-worth, no idea what he wants, no patience, and no willingness to face the reality that he’s going to have to come all the way out of the closet if he ever finds that he wants an SO.  Also no kids--he basically took care of his younger siblings, so NO THANKS.

32. If they could have one thing in the world, what would it be?

Top surgury.

34. What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually?

This fuck likes parties.  And he does get drunk, but he mostly goes for the power trip--he likes being the center of attention and demanding people's respect.  Which means he makes sure that he’s the one who makes the decisions.  Everyone knows that if you piss him off he attacks, so they go out of their way to give him everything he wants.  He just sits back and enjoys that.

36. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain?

Tricky question.  On one hand he wants power.  On the other, he wants family.  He needs control, and in some loops he will kill for it.  

38. What would your character do with a million dollars? 

He’d fucking book it.  Take his baby sibs and run.  He might use it as power over his mother, depending on how far gone he is in that particular timeline.  Mostly he’d buy a bunch of video games and beat everybody he challenged.

40. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What do they wear? Who will they be with?

HA.  He’s wearing four shirts now, and he’s either going to a party or he’s sneaking out to go see his Uncle because he needs emotional support and he can’t get it literally anywhere else.

42. Does your character have any scars? Where did they get them from? 

Many, many, many.  There’s one on his upper lip from an incident with a fish, a wrench, and his mom.  A few of his fingers are crooked from being broken several times as a kid.  He has callouses on his knuckles and palms, partly from purging but mostly from fighting.  He has a scar from an appendectomy--THAT was a fucking trip.  There’s a scar on his hairline from a head trauma and concussion he got playing soccer.  He has a few burn scars on his back from his mother throwing a tantrum and throwing hot coffee across the room (not at him, for once, but he was in the splash zone).  He has more scars on his hands and wrists than he can really count, because he is always getting into some kind of something.  In the zombie loop, he has a lot of facial scarring, including a dead eye--also in that loop he loses an arm.

44. How does your character react/ accept criticism?

Ha.  Ha ha.  Accept criticism?  Never.  Not once.

Okay, that’s a lie.  He’s literally always on the defensive/offensive, but if he values your opinion he’ll think about what you said (usually after he gets pissed off and storms away).  

46. Your character is given a voodoo doll of themself. What do they do with it? Do they see if it actually works?

If Morgan gave it to him, he’d be really creeped out and hide it somewhere.  Probably in a box.  A small, dark box where no one would find it.  If anyone else gave it to him, he would laugh, mimic punching himself in the face, and then probably get in a fight with the next person who pissed him off, unintentionally completeing the curse, more or less.

48. What were their parents like? How has that affected how they are as an adult?

YIKES.  His mom is a classic manipulator.  She, like him, has anger issues and control issues and is VERY hard to get to see reason.  She twists everything around to get her way.  This drove his dad away pretty early on--it also scared away Mandy’s dad, which is a HECK of a story that ends in two-year-old Mandy getting left on Uncle P and Aunt Morgan’s doorstep in the middle of the night.  Because of this, Danny is basically the functional parent of the family, but also because of this he has maladaptions like whoa.  His worldview is very skewed, and he has a lot to unlearn.

50. If your character was presented with imminent and unavoidable death/fatality, how would they react? Would they try to avoid death anyways? Would they try to make their last days count?

Danny is usually too stubborn to admit that he’s put himself in mortal danger.  Which is an important point--it’s usually himself who puts him in mortal danger.  Usually when this happens it’s because he gets fixated on something, such as getting away with killing his mother, and is willing to literally walk into his demise to get what he wants.  That boy is determined to a fault.  Also he has the terrible habit of suffering in silence?  Like damn, kid, if it hurts just SAY SOMETHING.